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4.23.2009

News + pop culture + a krillion TV channels + internet = A heck of a lot to keep up with in this world.

I have no trouble with the concept of talking to one's enemies. I sometimes feel like I do it more than I realize.

Charles Grodin was on Sean Hannity's show last night hawking some book. The man acted a little crazy.

I talked to someone yesterday who told me they once owned a brick made by "actual slaves" from Civil War days.

The hatred of Obama astounds me.

This Miss California/Perez Hilton broohaha might be the best thing that ever happened to her. If I'm that girl, I'd milk this controversy for as much as I possibly could.

And, by the way, she is smoking hot.

Saw a an elderly woman on College Street in Decatur this morning around 7:00 a.m. taking out her trash and smoking a cigarette.

I'm having a hard time paying $1.00 for the weekday edition of the Star-Telegram or Morning News. I'm not sure it's worth it.

Whatever happened to "The Christian Coalition?"

Does the question mark properly go inside the quotes in the above sentence?

Crazy Ranger note from last night: The pitcher that gave up the game winning hit in Toronto late last night was not even part of the team until noon yesterday. And at that time he was in sitting in Florida. He didn't get to Toronto until 9:45 p.m. and didn't get to the game until the 10th inning. (Second paragraph.)

Traffic nightmare this weekend: "State officials are taking the unusual step of closing all lanes of Interstate 35E in downtown Dallas for brief periods Saturday. The rolling closures will allow crews to put bridge beams in place [above the highway]. The closures will last up to 10 minutes at a time, and will take place between 6:30 a.m. and 1 p.m." Up to 10 minutes? Riiiiiiight.

I still think it's depressing that crawling in my bed to go to sleep is often the best time of my day.

As a test, I emptied my Spam email folder exactly one month ago. I checked it a second ago and there are 34,345 emails resting there. What are the chances of one having "Viagra" in the subject line?

I get this weird vibe from the Far Right Wing are beginning to secretly hope for another terrorist attack so they can blame Obama "for weakening our defenses."

It's 137 days until the start of Big 12 football season.

The radio in my shower (yep I have one) requires six Class C batteries. It's the only thing I've ever owned that has required Class C batteries.

There's nothing crazier than CPS court day at the courthouse. And there's always some mom in the hallway explaining how CPS is "out to get her" (which might be right.)

Up at the courthouse this morning for a second DWI trial in three days.

107 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Additional Traffic issues, they are closing 114 at 156 (Justin/Northwest Highschool) from 6 pm on Friday till 6 am on Monday to replace the 156 bridge that some driver hit a couple of weeks back, note to self... its supposed to rain at some point this weekend, dont assume 114 will be open at 6 am on Monday Morning.

Also, I saw the question about the period from the other day, but I didn't read the comments, so I don't know what the verdict was on this blog.

My opinion, for what it's worth (which may not be much despite my degree in English and two semesters as a law review editor), is that a period should go outside the quotation marks UNLESS the quoted text is a complete sentence that originally ended with a period.

NOTE that this is merely my own convention, and I believe that it conflicts with generally accepted usage (including newspaper style guides, conventions observed by book publishers, and -- of course -- Harvard Law's Blue Book). But despite all of this authority being against me, I think my way (at least in most cases) is better for clarity.

The Miss CA deal shouldn't even be a big deal. He asked for her opinion on a hot topic and she provided one. The fact that he got his panties all bunched up over her answer is irrelevant. She was representing CA, but speaking for herself (she even said as much). CA voted down the gay prop amendment anyway, so she actually was speaking for the majority of her state. I don't see any controversy there. And yes, she is hot!

Crazier Ranger note from last night (also in paragraph two): The pitcher you're referring to - O'Day, didn't even have a uniform available, so he wore one of Kason Gabbard's, who is in Triple A. Has that ever happened before? Gabbard's uniform has seen more major league action than he has!

It's "C" cell batteries, not Class C batteries. Class C sounds like you would need a license or permit to own or operate.

Got tired of all those Viagra messages "popping up" at inappropriate times?If those SPAM Viagra e-mails last longer than four hours, consult a doctor

Man, just when we were enjoying the blessed silence of Wordie, you toss out some low-hanging fruit guaranteed to bring him slithering out of his hole. Get the shovels, boys...here comes Wordie with a truckload of right-wing manure.

If you get a subscription to S-T it's cheaper than buying daily, but not much. The advantage is not having to rustle up the money every stinkin' day! Oh, I forgot the mountain of change in the Green family truckster. The DMN is more expensive with subscription because of the distance

Those on the far right supposedly hoping for another terrorist attack are as stupid as those on the far left who think homosexuality and abortions are the best way to population control.

I think those on the far left think Obama is hated more than he really is. Then again, I thought those on the far right thought Bush was hated more than he really was then realized you hated Bush. Oh, maybe you are on the far left.

How can anyone really hate a President they don't agree with if they think about all the man has to do. I'm no fan of Obama and think he makes some bad decisions but I don't think I would make all the right choices in that job. I will never agree with him on everything, maybe few things, but I still believe he is doing the best he can using his beliefs and vision. And, whether I like it or not, more people voted for him than the other not-so-good choice we had.

Bring back Ross Perot. At least he wasn't afraid to act as crazy as some of his ideas.

The hatred of both Bush and Obama astounds me. They're just men doing the best they can. Both have shortcomings and both have hidden agendas. I'm puzzled as to how the masses have so much energy and passion to direct at something so totally out of our control. I'm more concerned about dinner or what's on TV tonight than who's in the White House!

8:29, that has to be the stupidest statement that I have ever heard. The “Liberals” are the ones who protested against the Vietnam War. And the statement about Hillary was the hopes of the Right Wing extremist so that their favorite son, Bush wouldn’t get the blame.

I think that picture is from the Jimmy Buffett concert in Frisco this last weekend. That is a common sight. Hot women, not wearing much, drinking cold beer... His concert and all day tailgate is one of my most favorite times of year.

It seems that all the stories that you hear about anything concerning CPS leave me feeling that you are guilty until proven innocent. A drunk father can beat the crap out of his kids daily and have full custody. On the other hand, you can have parents that take a child to the hospital after falling off of a swing to be checked out as a precaution and CPS will show-up out of nowhere and grill them for hours, set up meetings and drag you through the mud for trying to be a good parent. The world has things a little turned around.

8:21 is right. Bush was hated quit a bit just for being who he was. It's sad that the office of President automatically makes you a hated person. Regardless of politics, that is a self-less job that only a few people want every 4 years. You're subject to constant scrutiny and second guessing. Someone always knows what should have been done more than you. The list goes on and on. I would not want that job. I don't like a lot of what Obama does, I disagree with him at nearly every turn, but I don't hate the man. That's a little extreme. On the flip side, just because you disagree with someone's politics doesn't mean that you hate that person. It just means y'all disagree. There's nuts on both sides of the aisle.

Obama has already weakened a variety of things concerning our country. However, we chose his inexperience and lack of leadership. It isn't his fault that he is inept, he always has been. It is our fault as we placed him in what was the most important job on earth.

The idiocracy of America astounds me! Both sides do what the other side rants about. People oftentimes listen to what wacko talking heads (both flavors) have to say. Some people don't vote. Some people cannot figure out how to change their miserable lives so they choose to try to make others miserable.

Wordkyle is wrong about the placement of the quotation mark. Only commas and periods should always be placed inside quotation marks. Other punctuation marks, including quotation marks, should be placed inside the quotation marks only if they are part of the quoted material. If not, they go outside. So in Barry's example, it should be outside.

Another sidenote to the Ranger game was the fact that the pitcher that they signed was named Darren O'Day and when he got there and they realized they needed him to pitch they quickly had to get him a uniform. They didn't have time to get his name on one so they took a Kason Gabbard jersey, #30 but in the minors, and had him wear that. So you had Darren O'Day pitching in the uniform of a guy that is in the minors for Texas. It was kind of crazy

Miss California should have won for her candor. Some folks think she lost (and feel justified about it) because her value system is different than theirsI guess that free speech deal only applies to people who feel oppressed

1045 - You may be correct; however, proving that I can be pedantic about things other than politics:

According to the Chicago Manual of Style, if Barry's use of quotation marks (QuoM) was to actually quote something, or if he was referring to the "Christian Coalition" as a term rather than the organization itself, you would be correct. However, his use of the QuoM was incorrect in the first place (sorry, BG.) The organization's name should not have been put in QuoM. His clear meaning was,

Whatever happened to The Christian Coalition?

"Question marks and exclamation points are placed just within the set of quotation marks ending the element to which such terminal punctuation belongs." (CMoS 11.34) In other words, the final QuoM would be put outside the terminal punctuation -- in this case, the question mark.

Having said all that, this is the internets, where pwned, L33T, :), and ROFLMAO are considered proper grammar. So all rules are off.

"The hatred of Obama seems to be confined to Hickville, USA. Those who live in the financial and sccial centers of the U.S...."

Well, la-dee-frickin'-da. I can't see so good outta these glasses...is that a city slicker over there? Well, you'll be singing a different tune when you're living in a van down by the river!What exactly is the definition of a "social center" of the U.S.? I assume you meant "social" and not "sccial". But what do I know, coming from Hickville?

A whole bunch of lazy fat-asses incapable of rational thought or productive behavior

I talked to someone yesterday who told me they once owned a brick made by "actual slaves" ------

It's better now that our bricks are made by virtual slaves??

The hatred of Obama astounds me??

But the murder of millions of unborn children seems OK?

Saw a an elderly woman on College Street in Decatur this morning around 7:00 a.m. taking out her trash and smoking a cigarette.---

Could be she grew up when people didn't vegetate in front of the TV and eat a lot of garbage not fit for hogs. In fact, what if you tobacco haters are wrong and it's the lifestyle that's so destructive, not the cigarettes.

As a test, I emptied my Spam email folder exactly one month ago. --

I emptied a can of spam last night too and I'm really glad there was no Viagra in it. Those cans are sharp.

I get this weird vibe from the Far Right Wing are beginning to secretly hope for another terrorist attack so they can blame Obama "for weakening our defenses--

Your paranoia of the conservatives is becoming irrational. These are mostly people who believe in God, personal responsibility, and conducting their lives within moral and ethical guidelines. They typically don't attend "damn the USA" Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church.They avoid association with Bill Ayers type folks. They have a natural aversion to dictators who hate us, want us dead or converted to Islam. Most didn't spend their youth doing a lot of drugs. Some even think Hollywood's mass marketing violence and sexual aberration is a bad idea. Many can speak intelligently without a teleprompter.What, exactly, do you fear so much from these people? Are you afraid they would return your country to a time when most people trusted their neighbor? Maybe you wish we could finally be rid of those last vestiges of honesty and integrity.

I have no problem with U.S. officials speaking with enemies of our nation. I do have a problem when officials of the U.S. treat enemies of our nation as though they are long lost friends.

I despise Sean Hannity and Keith Olbermann with the same intensity as a tire fire in Hell. Who, that appears on Hannity to sell something, doesn't act crazy?

Hubby's family still owns a farm with a pre-civil war house in north western Georgia that was built by slaves and STILL has the "help's cottages" approximately 300 yards from the "Main House." The farm, house and "out buildings" are all listed on the National Registry of Historic Sites. NOPE! I am NOT going to provide a link.I may be buzzing on hydrocodon but I am not stupid.Hatred for anyone astounds me. Hate is only a burden to the person who carries it in their heart." Trust me, I do not care nor is the quality of my life damaged by those on the blog who hate me.Miss California lost because Miss North Carolina won fair and square.

Question marks go OUTSIDE of quotation marks unless the question mark is part of the quoted text.

If crawling into bed is the best part of your day and you are going to bed alone, you need to figure a way to have better days.

I do not believe ANY fringe group in the U.S. wants innocent people harmed just to prove Obama failed to protect the U.S. I do believe there are U.S. citizens who want the U.S. to fail in Iraq and Afghanistan as a sign that the U.S. should not have gone to war in either nation. Barry, I am sad for you that you honestly believe Americans hope for the harm and death of innocent, fellow Americans in an attempt to prove ANY point. Terrorist kill innocent people to prove points.

I pray, plan having a successful day and focus on the wonderfulness of taking a shower while I shower. Doing these small acts makes my morning shower one of my high points of my day and assures there will be several more high points throughout my day.

If you are going to spend this much time in court, you need a better cushion on those hard chairs or your back will bother you.

The thing that really amazes me about the whole gay movement is that they base every bit of their self-esteem on who they do what with BEYOND THE BEDROOM DOOR. Do you poor people not have anything else in your lives to hang your hat on? It's almost like they know what they do is wrong and goes against the grain of our society.By the way, why does Miss CA need to "get with the times?" She was asked a loaded question and gave an honest answer, then it blew up in perez hilton's face. The only reason he asked that question was to get some sort of approval from the gay community and some face time.But, back to the whole gay thing: Why is it that gays and lesbians DEMAND open-mindedness from everyone else, then don't show that same open-mindedness when someone disagrees with them?Oh, wait, that's what liberals do... I forgot...

Miss California wasn't cheated out of a darned thing. Miss North Carolina, Kirsten Dalton, won fair and square. Dalton was leading in swimsuit points and evening gown points and gave a more articulate answer than that capped toothed Miss California.

why is it that the longest comments are usually the least worth reading.

Punctuation diatribes excepted.

Also, Miss Cali had a perfect opportunity for a states' rights argument which would have bypassed the entire gay question but she decided to contradict herself in her own statement instead. Which kinda makes the "at least she stood up for herself" idea seem lame to me.

Why do these pageants even have a question/answer session anyways? They should replace it with a jello wrestling competition.

But, back to the whole gay thing: Why is it that gays and lesbians DEMAND open-mindedness from everyone else, then don't show that same open-mindedness when someone disagrees with them?Ah, the old "why won't you tolerate my intolerance" argument?

Jar - I recognized it for what it was. I agree with your observations. The favorite hobby of the right -- waterboarding -- actually saved Los Angeles. And what's the thanks we get?You guys read, right?

http://www.slate.com/id/2216601/

Those on the far right supposedly hoping for another terrorist attack are as stupid as those on the far left who think homosexuality and abortions are the best way to population control.I guess "far left" applies to me, but generally I stick to contraception for the purposes of population control. I guess I'm old school that way.

"In fact, what if you tobacco haters are wrong and it's the lifestyle that's so destructive, not the cigarettes." What?

This is a dangerous and ill-informed comment. Each year over 430,000 Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. There is an unquestionable amount of research indicating that the use of tobacco products has an inverse relationship to overall health and a direct relationship to mortality rates.

There are many "hot topics" discussed on this blog where there is a gray area, regardless of what either side may think, however I hope that no one who reads this blog truly thinks that tobacco products are not destructive. I also hope this is not the type of statement that you would make to your children or other impressionable young people. Very frightening to think someone might believe that statement has any validity.

Gotta say, mzchief, that I read where you posted for another poster to KILL him/herself and do it NOW. hmmmmmmm.... that is the very lowest! You continually claim that other posters here are "haters"? Sounds to me like YOU are the queen of that title.

TO anonymous 9:11...Have you never heard of DARK HUMOUR. Surely, not even the twits who post comments as "anonymous" are simpleminded enough to kill themselves at the advice of another commenter. If so, I hope they have not contributed to the gene pool.

Incidentally, if you have failed to notice, allow me to point it out to YOU, I could not care less what you anonymous commenters think and say about me. As far as I am concerned you are all alike and could just as easily be the same person. If you do not put enough value in your own comments to take ownership of them, there is NO reason for me to give them anymore consideration than the person doing the composing.

Before you or your ilk EVER call me out on anything I post on Barry's Blog, submit a complete list of EVERY comment you have EVER posted on Barry's Blog so I am able to judge YOU based upon YOUR comments, you self-righteous coward.

Is Perez really going to run for Ms California next year or is it his boy/girl friend that plays the bottom (humor)part.I totally agree with the Ray Charles connection.I will bet you Ray could tell a man from a woman using the braille method. DAGO

Xan - I missed my morning ritual of reading Slate, The Daily Kos and HuffPo. I simply went off of what the actual released CIA/DoJ memo said (I try to use source material when possible.) My mistake. Waterboarding only prevented other attacks, helped capture other terrorists, and kept the nation safer (in the opinion of Obama's national intelligence director.)

My my...are we "name calling"? But I thought you were the one who didn't like "name callers!" I love rattling your cage, mz. Here's some of your own medicine: If you don't "give consideration" to those who post anonymously, then DON'T READ THEIR POSTS! and for gosh sakes....don't respond to them. You talk out of both sides of your mouth.

To anonymous 6:24...Perhaps, the reason I have reminded you twits that your opinions of me are meaningless is because your opinions of me are meaningless. Think about it. do YOU care what anonymous people think about you? There is NO reason to care. Keep your day job as a sacker at Diamonds and do not be too surprised about not getting that promotion to checker. Apparently, you lack adequate linear thinking skills and are devoid of any skills permitting comprehension.

I offered an explanation to my misuse of two properly spelled words in two separate comments because the person, who noted the errors, specifically asked; "What is wrong with you girl?" I elected to respond so as to validate their correct assumption that there was indeed, something wrong with me. Alas, more proof you are incapable of reading comprehension and linear thinking.

Incidentally, I make countless errors in my comments due to my habit of NEVER proof reading my comments prior to posting them. I have, upon the occasion that I bothered to reread a comment, submitted a "typo repair kit" comment because I had either left out words or so grossly mistyped a word it was incomprehensible.

Keep in mind, YOU are the one who engaged ME in conversation. So I MUST really matter to you.

Waterboarding is for pussies. whatever happened to getting two big old dudes to beat the snot out of suspected terraists? Bamboo shoots under the fingernails? Electric shocks? Waterboarding. Pfft. I waterboard my kids for fun and they love it. They think it's "swimming."

You know what, I really don't care what the CIA does. They're spies and it's their job to be secret. Do they use unconventional methods to gather information? I hope so. Asking nicely doesn't always work so well.

If they want to tap my phones or read my emails, have at it, gents. If they have to break a few eggs to prevent a terraist attack, do I need to know about it? Hell no. Just as long as some guys don't fly anymore planes in to our buildings or lop off the heads of innocent Amer'kins.

Maybe we should waterboard some of our politicians and pundits to see what's really going on in their heads...

According to webster.com, intolerant is defined as:1: unable or unwilling to endure2 a: unwilling to grant equal freedom of expression especially in religious matters b: unwilling to grant or share social, political, or professional rights

As you see, both definitions call for some sort of action ("grant", "endure"), if you will. In my case, there is no action. I'm neither tolerant nor intolerant. I simply have my beliefs and you have yours. However, I think you - as well as those militant gays and lesbians, liberals, etc. - are showing YOUR intolerance by attacking me and other conservatives like me. You are unwilling to "grant" and "endure" my beliefs, sinly because they don't jibe with yours.

Again, so as to not confuse you, I DON'T CARE what gays do behind their closed doors, as long as it doesn't affect me or my family (physically, that is. Mentally and emotionally, we're exposed to that nonsense, so we just have to deal with it).Just wanted to see if you were more understanding of MY SIDE of the issue, which is worth about two cents, I imagine.

mz-My opinion must matter to you or why else would you spend so many words explaining yourself to me?

You do matter to me because you AMUSE me.

I am a professional and have prestige within my career, but I will not pull a "mzchief" and tell you how rich I am, how accomplished I am, how I spend my time traveling, talking to Senators, etc, etc, etc.....

To anonymous 12:40...Ahem...YOU are the one who continually seeks communication/validation from ME. Let us see who can go the longest without referencing and/or seeking communication with the other one. The winner is the person who does NOT initiate contact. As for you being amused. You seemingly are far more disturbed by me than you are amused.

Regarding your success; *OTFLOLHYSTERICALLY@U* You having a successful fantasy life does not equate to being a professional and having prestige within your career. People as jealous and petty as you are NEVER a TRUE success. You are so cowardise and devoid of integrity you are unwilling to acquire an alias to post and own your malignant comments, thus further proving you are a loser.

I know you cannot participate on Barry's Blog without referencing me or communicating with me. You are that petty and small of a person.

I'm with you Jarhead. Let's take it one step further and stick a glass rod up their penis and give them a choice of having it smashed or they can talk. War is hell.

On the other hand, most of the targets tend to be Democrat strongholds. Maybe it was a bad idea to convince the terrorist to provide information on the pending attack on Los Angeles. Waterboarding got that piece of information out of them. Let the prisoners go. Stop the torture.Let's be sweet to them.

jugg..you are so f'n out of touch man, nancy pelosi is going to let barney frank shove a glass rod up their asses and then give them the option of whether they want to submit all they know..get with the program grunt..

Mzchief, Mzchief, YOU already blew it! Let me say again: Here's some of your own medicine: If you don't "give consideration" to those who post anonymously, then DON'T READ THEIR POSTS! and for gosh sakes....don't respond to them. You talk out of both sides of your mouth.You're so very anal! 'rattle-rattle!' hahaaaaahhhaaaaa!